For the past 40 years I’ve consulted and coached leaders from the factory floor to the boardroom in some of the world’s best companies in multiple industries. Basically, I help people get good stuff done while avoiding the Dilbert Zone. Early in my career I covered politics and business for Texas newspapers, and freelanced for publications ranging from The New York Times and The National Observer to Boys’ Life and Parade magazine. Then I was a university professor, worked on Wall Street, served in two White House administrations, advised several U.S. Senators, and headed worldwide communications at Campbell Soup Company. My Ph.D. (Purdue University) is in organizational behavior, but my orientation is the real world of real work. My bestselling book is CHANGE-friendly LEADERSHIP: How to Transform Good Intentions into Great Performance. Connect with me at www.DuncanWorldwide.com and @DoctorDuncan

Hiring A New Team Player? Lessons From The NFL Draft

One of the most perplexing tasks of any business leader is hiring the right people for the right jobs. After all, effective teamwork requires the interdependent participation of all the players. And for maximum success, each player must have the appropriate psychological and behavioral traits in addition to appropriate performance skills.

Dr. Robert Troutwine is a psychologist who specializes in gathering reliable data to help with hiring decisions. His clients include most of the teams in the National Football League, as well as many Major League Baseball and National Basketball Association teams. His non-athletic clients range from Ford Motor and Sprint to the Federal Reserve Bank and U.S. Military Special Forces.

Troutwine has done psychological assessments of more than 10,000 past and current NFL players. And you can be sure his assessments are being closely examined during this week’s NFL Draft. He helps teams with draft choices by assessing a player’s mental profile and matching it to profiles proven to be associated with success or failure at a particular position or in a particular organization. In addition to helping with draft decisions, the data can guide a coach in dealing with a specific player.

Robert Troutwine: We show coaches and scouts the parts of the player they can’t see—his drive, work habits, coachability, intelligence, stability, and a host of other traits that might be overlooked if a coach is focusing only on physical attributes. It might take a coach years to know how to get the most of out a player, whether he fits on the team, how he compares mentally to other successful NFL players throughout history in that position. Now the team has all this information before choosing a player.

Our TAP assessment has been used by leading teams in the NFL for more than 20 years. With our vast database of 10,000+ past and current players who were tested, our sophisticated analytics project a prospect’s chances for success in the NFL. We predict success by assessing the player’s mental profile and matching to profiles proven to be successful or not successful at a particular position or with a particular organization. It also enables development of the athlete by providing the coach with very specific guidance on how to coach this individual based on his mental profile.

Duncan: In a business context, how does your assessment of a prospective employee compare with your assessment of a professional athlete?

Troutwine: The parallels between doing this for a business client and a professional sports team are striking. In both cases we want to know things like the motivation to continue to improve, various work related habits, social and personal characteristics, such as being able to get along with others within a team context, and mental make-up.

Our process starts with carefully studying the requirements for various job roles within an industry or organization, just like we do with sports positions in athletics. We also learn what traits and metrics are tied to success and longevity, and can tweak our assessment to include those considerations. We have even built industry specific assessments. Once the assessment is in place in an organization, we examine the difference between people who were successful and those who were less successful within that role or industry.

Obviously, the job description for a professional athlete is different from that of a corporate manager. The pressures are different for a professional athlete and the high visibility and public scrutiny that professional athletes go through also requires special mental fortitude. But there are parallels that can be assessed and made predictive in either role. Most people know when the quarterback makes a mistake. But few people know when Larry, the account executive, fails to follow through with the client. We can help shed a light on either.

Duncan: A lot of NFL coaches, as well as coaches in other sports, rely heavily on you to help them make drafting and trade decisions. To what extent do they actually pay attention to what you tell them?

Troutwine: All teams are going to consider the physical characteristics of the pro prospect. How much they weigh the psychological findings we provide can differ, but in most cases teams place a high importance on our findings. Even when two teams place the same importance on our assessment, there will be a great deal of variation in how much emphasis the team places on specific findings. For instance, one club may be comfortable taking a draft pick with a lower score in certain areas while another club may place a premium on those characteristics. This could be for a variety of reasons, such as the degree of complexity of the offense or defense schemes that club relies on.

Duncan: Denver Bronco quarterback Peyton Manning is widely regarded for his leadership traits such as his vision, focus, communication skills, and his willingness to be coached. What can a business leader learn from how Manning operates on the field?

Troutwine: What Peyton Manning does off the field provides a greater lesson in leadership than what he does on the field. It has been written countless times that his preparation and attention to detail are unparalleled. His teammates observe this and then rise to the occasion. He is able to make everyone around him better through this kind of passionate approach. By being thoroughly and completely prepared, he is ready for all the unexpected things that can happen in a football game. In short, he expects the unexpected and prepares for it.

Duncan: Every smart business person knows that successful “implementation” is critically dependent on having the right people on the team. In that context, what advice do you give sports coaches regarding their “mix” of players? How does that compare to your advice to a business leader or manager?

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